Helen "Theresa" Reiser

Helen "Theresa" Reiser was born on September 14, 1936, in Bozeman, Montana, to Laurence and Helen (Pattee) Gaffney. Theresa passed away on March 14, 2026, in Manhattan, Montana. She was raised on the family ranch near Middle Creek in the Gallatin Valley. Theresa attended Monforton School and graduated from Gallatin County High School. She attended and graduated from Montana State College in Bozeman. Theresa was the first female letter winner at MSC where she competed as one of the best shooters in the nation on the Bobcat rifle team holding her own within a male-dominated sport and earning varsity letters in 1957 and 1958. In 1958, Theresa capped her MSU career by becoming the first Montanan to win a college rifle national championship a year after finishing second. Following her college years, she remained competitive and won Montana state titles four straight times and claimed consecutive Wyoming state titles. In 2014, Theresa was inducted into the Montana State University Athletic Hall of Fame. She was considered to be a trailblazer for women in collegiate sports opening the door for female athletes in the future for her efforts.

In 1958, she married Robert “Bob” Reiser, and they spent the next 62 years together until Bob’s death in 2021. Bob and Theresa farmed and ranched near Bear Creek outside of Gallatin Gateway. They raised cattle, sheep and harvested hay and grain. Bob and Theresa moved to a farm outside of Townsend, Montana, in 2000. They were well respected and loved by their Gallatin County and Broadwater County friends and neighbors.

Theresa loved the outdoors. She loved horseback riding, cross-country and alpine skiing and hiking throughout the valley. Yellowstone National Park was one of her favorite places and she routinely would leave the ranch well before sunrise so that she could be in Lamar Valley before the sun came up in hopes of seeing a grizzly bear. Theresa enjoyed pack trips in the Bob Marshall Wilderness as well as annual pack trips over Independence Pass and into Hellroaring to help Teddy Thompson with his sheep camp.

Theresa also hauled her three kids to rodeos all over the state of Montana. She knew every bull better than her sons did, and cowboys could be found asking Theresa the patterns of every bull in the bull pen. Not one to like to spend a night away from home, Theresa would typically drive all night from wherever a rodeo was held to get home to the ranch and her own bed. Theresa also loved all animals, especially her beloved dogs, cats, horses and sheep.

Theresa went back to Montana State University to renew her teaching certificate once her children were grown and also attending college. She then began a career as a grade schoolteacher at Cottonwood School, the same two room schoolhouse that her children attended south of Bozeman. She was a beloved teacher. Theresa’s students definitely learned reading, writing and arithmetic, but they also were introduced to science, nature and physical education through the many field trips they took all over Gallatin County and Yellowstone Park. These kids hiked, biked, ran and learned hands-on about the wonders of nature and physical activity.

Theresa was also a devoted grandmother who never missed a football, basketball or softball game, tennis match, 4-H event, rodeo or cutting horse event that her grandchildren were competing in. It was not uncommon to see her little Subaru filled with dogs and an occasional bum lamb or two inside (which ultimately gave up the ghost at approximately 300,000 miles), pulling up to an event in Townsend and then being on its way to another school activity or sporting event in Livingston.

Theresa was also tough. One example of her toughness was when she went on a twelve-mile hike with her brother, Paul, in Glacier National Park, then drove 120 miles to Plains, Montana, to watch Gary ride a bull, drives 280 miles back to Gallatin Gateway that same evening, and has emergency gallbladder surgery the next day.

One of the most dramatic events in Theresa’s life was when a grizzly bear sow and two cubs, which had been dumped into the Bear Creek Drainage by FWP, got into Theresa’s sheep just yards away from houses and outbuildings at the ranch. Not knowing she was dealing with a grizzly bear as it was dark, Theresa shot the bear with her 22-250 rifle, only to discover it was a collared sow grizzly bear. Needless to say, this caused quite an uproar in the valley as well as all over the state. Theresa loved grizzly bears, but she didn’t want them killing her sheep and endangering the lives of family members literally in the ranch barnyard.

Theresa loved to visit with friends and family, and a “quick” cup of coffee would often turn into a three-hour visit and a pot of coffee later. As Bob would say about family gatherings, there was a lot of talking and not much listening. Theresa and her Little Bear neighbors were notorious for their secrecy of huckleberry patches, and Theresa was well known for placing camouflage net over the most prime patches.

Theresa is survived by her children, Kathy Foote (Jonathan), Pat Reiser (Michele) and Gary Reiser (Tina); as well as her brother, Paul Gaffney; and sister, Lois Gaffney; and grandchildren, Meghan Foote-Windmueller (Matt), Tom Reiser, Lauren Reiser (Austin Rath), Madison Reiser and Trevor Reiser, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Theresa was preceded in death by her husband, Bob; parents, Laurence and Helen; brother, Larry; sister-in-law, Penny Gaffney; and niece, Stacy Gaffney. A Celebration of Life will be held on July 19, 2026, 2-5 p.m., at the Gallatin Gateway Community Center, Gallatin Gateway, Montana.

The family would like to thank the staff at Parkhaven Memory Care for their loving care of Theresa over the past two years, as well as the staff at Enhabit Hospice Care.